The Miami Trace Lady Panthers opened the night with an 11-0 run and finished the game with a 17-5 run to defeat the Hathaway Brown Lady Blazers 63-39 at the Panther Pit in a rematch of last years Division II State Semi Finals.
The Panthers did their damage tonight with a balanced scoring attack, great defense and a strong night on the boards. Miami Trace forced the Blazers into 18 turnovers and out rebounded the bigger Blazers 32-28 but 21-13 in the second half. Each time Hathaway Brown would try to mount a comeback the panthers, "D" would step up big and shut down the attack before it make a dent in the score.
Hathaway Brown was able to cut the lead to seven early in the fourth quarter on a three point shot from Jackie Carman and after that Tanner Bryant took over, knocking down three straight buckets igniting a 17-4 run that turned into a 19-9 final period. Bryant started slow only scoring 2 points in the first half, but came up big on the boards and on the defense side of the ball.
The offense was a full team effort as four Panthers were in double figures led by Sophomore Shay McDonald's 20 points, Shay hit from inside and outside as well as in transition. Cassidy Lovett came up huge on the defensive side giving the Blazer ball handlers fits all night, she finished the night with 5 steals to go along with her 12 points. The Senior leaders for the Panthers Victoria Fliehman and Tanner Bryant added 13 and 10 points respectively. The Panthers finished the night shooting 25-61 for 41% including 6 three point shots. They forced 18 turnovers but committed only 12 but were just 5-15 from the charity stripe for 33%
Hathaway Brown (1-4) was led in scoring by Senior Jackie Carman's 21 points, Sydney Radke had 8 and Ava Warcaba had 8. They shot 12-52 from the field for 23% and were 5-29 from behind the arc for 17% and shot 8-13 from the free throw line. They committed 18 turnovers and were out rebounded 32-28.
Miami Trace (6-1) takes on Southeaster Friday and have the Washington Court House Blue Lions on Saturday with Buckeye Country 105.5FM/iHeartRadio broadcast roughly 5:45 p.m.
Hathaway Brown travels to Chillicothe Friday night to take on the Lady Cavaliers.